Steam for Linux

Please create a version of the Steam client that is completely stripped of its user interface and only runs as a background service (daemon) using a lens in the Dash to search, buy, download, install, play, and remove Steam games and with a control panel in System Settings for changing the settings. This kind of seamless integration should offer the best possible experience to Ubuntu users and would allow Steam to feel completely native. If I want more functionality AFAIK I can get everything except installing and launching games by using the Steam web site in a browser window, but if that's not enough then I should be able to launch the Steam client, which would connect to the already running daemon and give me one more UI talking to the same backend in which to do my business. Thank you.

I doubt the Valve team would want to bother with that extra work. I mean the idea of a daemon service and everything can sound great to us Linux nerds but really I imagine Valve would just want to have a consistent client on all platforms not only for branding purposes and their customers, but also less work and maintenance.

The default view of the Steam lens could have a section for special promotions. Doing this would give them support for all form factors on Ubuntu for free, and the lens and control panel could be open source and done by the community with project leadership by a Steam developer, although it should be simple enough to implement that it shouldn't matter. The only major thing to do is get the client to run as a headless daemon and add whatever is necessary to the Steam protocol so that the lens and control panel would work.

Personally I prefer everything about Steam being all contained to one application you see with just one window, I wouldn't want it to become something invisible that runs in the background and just to see chunks of it appearing in the OS every now and then. I like how it's just one solid application that I can see running, and easily close if I want. I like how if I don't want to see anything Steam-y, I can just close the application or minimise it, and it's all gone. I wouldn't even want that kind of setup on Windows or Mac. I like having a clear boundary where applications start and finish, instead of everything being super integrated into the OS.

Plus, that's a lot of work to do for just one shell mainly used by just one Linux distro, it's asking for a bit much, I think for now Valve should be just focusing on getting the normal Steam client running in a stable manner.

I think it's more important to keep Steam consistent across the OSes too, otherwise it could be jarring for steam users who are new to Linux and coming from Windows/Mac.

I'm not saying they should eliminate the current client but that they should have another option. I'm also not saying that they should drop everything and focus on what I want instead of getting the current client working properly. I also recognize that even though IMO it would be super great if they implemented this suggestion of mine it is not very likely that they would, even though it would put them on equal footing with everything else that uses a Unity lens and make it much easier for them to appear on Ubuntu TV and Ubuntu for Phones. Steam is a distribution platform and set of services. It doesn't need to be an app any more than APT needs to be an app, and the parts of it that don't fit into this work just as well as a web site as anything else. Most of the Steam app that we see is just web pages anyway.

Wont ever happen and I would not want it too, I am a Unity user and I love it because I gave it a go(thought it was rubbish before I did and I along with many other people were wrong), however people that use Ubuntu use a lot of different desktop environments, so that makes the target audience even smaller, then smaller again as not all Unity users would want this, in fact I would say very few would. Then you have the ultimate reason, would you not rather Valve`s time was spent on other things? Plus Steam has great Unity integration in the launcher, you can launch store, community, libary, servers, screenshots, news, settings, big picture mode or friends just by right clicking the icon. As for what you said about Ubuntu TV, there is no reason for Valve to concern themselves with that at all, they already have their own pig picture mode and will be working on that a lot, for their Steam box/console whatever you choose to call it(which was not the Piston shown at CES). Ubuntu for phones is extremely easy to develop for already and the phone app would be just like the Android app, then when the phone is docked you have full Ubuntu and full Steam.

Wont ever happen and I would not want it too, I am a Unity user and I love it because I gave it a go(thought it was rubbish before I did and I along with many other people were wrong), however people that use Ubuntu use a lot of different desktop environments, so that makes the target audience even smaller, then smaller again as not all Unity users would want this, in fact I would say very few would. Then you have the ultimate reason, would you not rather Valve`s time was spent on other things? Plus Steam has great Unity integration in the launcher, you can launch store, community, libary, servers, screenshots, news, settings, big picture mode or friends just by right clicking the icon. As for what you said about Ubuntu TV, there is no reason for Valve to concern themselves with that at all, they already have their own pig picture mode and will be working on that a lot, for their Steam box/console whatever you choose to call it(which was not the Piston shown at CES). Ubuntu for phones is extremely easy to develop for already and the phone app would be just like the Android app, then when the phone is docked you have full Ubuntu and full Steam.

"however people that use Ubuntu use a lot of different desktop environments" - So what? They (and me, BTW) can use the generic Steam client while those who use Unity can use a Steam lens OR the generic client, whichever they prefer.

"then smaller again as not all Unity users would want this, in fact I would say very few would" - Canonical is betting on people wanting one place for all their searches, which is why they put the Amazon shopping lens where it is. Valve can get its products in front of users whenever they make a relevant search in the Home lens, just like Canonical does with the Amazon lens. The more users see Steam games for sale, the more they are likely to find one they want and buy it. This seems to me like cheep way to increase sales.

"Then you have the ultimate reason, would you not rather Valve`s time was spent on other things?" - This really shouldn't take much time and effort at all, will put it on par with the native app store, increase what effectively counts as advertising, and increase sales. All these benefits will come as pretty much a small one-time investment.

"Plus Steam has great Unity integration" - It's very far from feeling native, and quicklists on a client that should be invisible most of the time is like a band-aid for gangreen. The Steam client may be better than the Desura client, but that's about the only good thing I've got to say about it.

"As for what you said about Ubuntu TV, there is no reason for Valve to concern themselves with that at all" - Ubuntu TV can install and run apps which makes it also a game console. There is no reason why Valve shouldn't aim to be the #1 source for games on every device with a native integrated kind of experience. The question is whether Ubuntu TV will ever be sold on actual devices or get popular enough to matter, but then again even if it turns out to be completely and forever vapourware the lens you develop for it will also be usable on all other devices, or you could say that Ubuntu TV support will come as a free bonus.

"Ubuntu for phones is extremely easy to develop for already and the phone app would be just like the Android app" - They'd need to port it or maybe re-write it considering that the language and SDK are different. It's easier to develop a lens.

I don't see here anyone saying it's a bad idea or that they are against it, only that they don't think Valve would bother, or wrongly think that it would come at the expense of the generic client, or misunderstanding what would need to be done to make this happen. So I'd summarize the comments so far as displaying either a valid lack of interest or opposition that is due to groundless fear.